Loose-leaf binder



Feb. 10, 1931. R, WAT ON 1,791,916

LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Jan. 25, 1930 INIVENTGI? flauh VV/afdafu WIT/V1568 BY /Y I Patented Feb. 10, 1931 BaLrHw Tson, or PKILADELI'HIA, iENNSYLVANIA, I

' noose-LEAF i'zrivnnn; r

' Application filed mam 25, 19st. swam. 423,322.

to of structure, arrangement and assembly whereby the binder may ber'eadil'y permanently attached to a pile or stack of leaves having punched" or perforated edges and, once attached,'cannot readily 'bedetaehed i therefrom, the leaves being permanently held in such a way that when the book is opened, the pages on both sidesof the binder ring'slie flat and the stack of leaves on one side of the binder rings or elements pre- 20 vents the detachment of the rings from the support in which they 'arepermanently mounted. a I f A further object of my invention is to provide a loose'leaf binder which is parti'ci1- books and the like, wherein the pile/or stack of pages on the right-hand side of thebinder will lie fiat and convenient to write upon and the stubs" on the other side 1 of; the binder, rings or arches will also lie .tlatwithout any teiidency whatever to" fall gforward'ly and :pile up on other pages onthe right-hand side of the said. rings or arches; y 1

v A further object of my invention is taprovide a loose leaf binder of the character above described, in which the covers may be'folded back on each other, back to back, with the lezives on. one side of the binder rings and the stubs on the other side lying flat, so that the book will occupy a considerably smaller area when so 'folded a nd placed ona desk than sti'chpa book ordinarily requires on the desk for the entry of data therein;

' A further obfect ofmy invention is to pro;- vide .a convenient easy modeiof assembling the binder with. the leaves therein ,whereby stifi,resilientrseparate rings kor- U- shaped archesmay beeasily sprung into recesses provided in the edgeszofia"metallic r larly adapted for use in the binding of check backing strip, s'ecured to the cover ahd, hav-' ing once been sprung therein, are firmly and permanently held in said notches by the resiliency of the arches themselves and by the cooperation of the leaves of the book ;mou=11ted therewith. of the necessary A further object of my invention is to provide a looseleer binder structurei'n which the elements comprise; but three separate parts, one of which is adapted to be'attached to-a cover by two si-mple eyelets or rivets passing therethr'oug h. 1 7

Other objects of my invention will appear in the specification afid elaims below. 3 Referring to the drawings formlng a part of this specification, in whichlthe same reference characters are employed throughout the various views to designatethe same parts,

7 Fig; lshows, inpe'r'speetivaa cover with my mprovements 1n lo'ose leaf binders secured thereto, with the cover lying open and with the stack of pages or checks lying flat on the right-hand side of the rings or arches;

- Fig. 2 is a plan view on alarg'erscale'of the loose leaf binder elements, parts being broken aW'aybetweenthe end of the strip,

and'showing the upper ring or arch in-its,

final or locked position and indicating the lower ring or arch in dot and-d'ash lines in th'e'position in which its is placed over the edges of the backing strip before it is turned and sprung into its seat or notch on the righthand side of theb-indingelement to permit of the fastening ofthe rings or arches to the backing strip; 7 I V v Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on'the line 3+3 ofFig. 2;

Pg. 4 is a fragmentary ve'r'iicalsectional View of the metallic b'adkin'g strip or support taken on the line H of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary viewofthe edge of the backing strip or support showin'gone of the embossed or raised portions and. the notch therein provided p I 'Th'e loose leaf unit embodying my inventioii and which is adapted to be seciired' to any suitable covering: comprises but three pieces, namely, thebackitig strip or support 1 of metal andtwo like rings or U-shaped arches 22 arranged to be secured to the backing strip 1 in the manner to be described. The strip 1 is provided on its lefthand edge with two substantially semi-circular strucknp portions 3-3 each of which is provided respectively with a small substantially semi-circular notch 4, preferably substantially concentric with the raised portions 3 or 3 in which the notch is made. The opposite edges of the backing strip or support 1 is provided with two struck-up or embossed portions 5, preferably elongated in a direction parallel to the length of the strip and each struck-up portion is provided with an irregular lCQSSCOlHPl'lS- ing a deep portion 6, a substantially semicircular portion 7 and an inclined am portion 8, extending from the bottom of the deep portion 6 and leading into the semicircular portion 7, at a point well above the bottom thereof. The shallow portions 7-7 are respectively directly opposite the notches 4-4. The irregular recesses 6-6 are disposed complementally with respect to each other and symmetrically with respect to a line midway between the notches l l and normal to the length of the strip; that is to say, the deep portion 6 in the strueleup portion 5 is below its coacting shallower portion 7, while the deep portion (3, in the struckup portion 5 is above its coacting shallow portion 7.

The rings 2, 2 are exactly alike and made of stiff resilient wire circular in transverse crosssection. Each comprises a curved portion 9, preferably substantially semi-circular, and two like short parallel ends or prongs l0, provided near their ends with grooves forming necks 11, 11 of small diameter and thin disk-like heads or flanges 12, 12 at the extremities of the straight portions 11, 11 is substantially the same as the diameter of the notches 4;, so that when the necks 11, 11 are seated therein they fit closely against the surfaces of said notches. The thickness of the heads or flanges 12. longitudinally of the straight portions 10, 10, is small and the struck-up or raised portions-3, 3 and 5, 5 are elevated. above the surface of the strip 1 only sufficiently to permitthe thin heads 12, 12 to slide therein. The distance between the center of a notch e and the center of the coasting deep notch 6 respectively is substantially equal to the distance between the axes of the straight portions 10, 10 of a ring or arch member 2. The distance between the center of a notch 1 and the center of the opposite shallow match 7 is substantially greater than the distance between the axes of the said straight portions 10, 10 so that in assembling an arch or ring on the strip 1. one neck of a ring or arch 2 is first placed in a notch 4 onthe left-hand side and the other neck 11 in the deep notch 6 on the opposite side of the strip as indicated in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 2. This is readily effected by slightly springing apart the arms or straight portions 10 of the rings or arches 2 to bring the heads or flanges 12, 12 below the under sides of the raised portions 3, 5 or 3, 5 respectively. After having been placed in the position, (as shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 2), the ring or arch is swung clockwise around the axis of the neck 11 which is in the notch 4, and over the inclined camming section 8 spreading the prongs 10, 10 until the righthand prong snaps into the shallow notch 71 In the upper half of Fig. 2 the ring 2 shown as having been sprung into and being retained in the upper notch 7 after the righthand prong 10 has been forced upwardly anti-clockwise from the deep notch 6 in the embossed portion 5 over the cannning section 8. lhe distance between a pair of coacting notches 4 and 7 is greater than the distance between the notches 4 and 6 and slightly greater than the normal distance between the necks 11, 11 of a ring or arch 2 so that in traveling from the position shown for instance in Fig. 2 in the dot-and-dash lines over the ca-mming section 8, the ends of the ring will be sprung apart slightly, and will be under a tension after the neck 11 on the right-hand side of the arch or ring has been sprung into its shallow seat 7.

It will now be clearly apparent that one ring or arch 2 (the upper one) will be swung about the axis of its left-hand prong in an anti-clockwise direction in being .cammed into the upper shallow notch 7 and that the other ring (the lower one) will be swung in a clockwise direction in being cammed into the shallow notch 7, and that the disposition of one pair of notches 6, 7 is therefore complemental with respect to the other pair of notches 6, 7.

- Each notch 7 has alow wall on the side adacent the coacting cam surface 8 and a high wall on the opposite side and on its high side the notch is preferably deeper than the radius of the neck 11 to prevent the ring from being forced over said wall in turning the ring around the axis coincident with the center of a notch or recess 4.

Having thus described the structure and the manner in which the three parts of the binding element may be easily assembled without the use of screws, nuts or other fastening devices for locking the rings 2 and backing strip 1 together in firm permanent engagement, the manner in which this ele ment is used will now be described.

The strip 1 is preferably provided with two holes 13, 13 through which pass rivets 14, 1% for securing the strip 1 to the back cover 15 of abinder which may be of any suitable construction but which is preferably composed of three parts, namely, the back cover 15, the back 16 and the front cover 17. The

"strip li's preferably riveted to the beck when the book is closed the n-ont'co er 17 will lie flat on the stack of leaves lying on the inside of the back cover 15. The connection 19 between the front'cover 17 and'the back 16 is hingelike and flexible, like the connection 18 between the back cover 15 and the back 16.

To secure a stack of pages or leaves 20 in a binder, a prong or straight portion 10 of an arch or ring 2 is inserted through the alined holes 21 punched through the leaves 20, and

the head 12 below the leaves is slidfinto struc'k up portions 3 of the strip 1 to bring a neck 11 into a notch 4 as shown in Fig. 3. The other straight portion 01; prong 10 of the ring or arch,"after having been placed in the deep notch 6 is then swung around the axis of the first arm (Which is in the notch 1) as a center, over the caniportion 8 until the neck 11 snaps into theshallow notch/7. In a similar manner a like ring or arch 2 is inserted through the other series of perforations in the stack of pagesQO and the neck 11 of the prong is fitted into the notch 4 of the raised portion 3 and the other neck is fitted intothe deep notch 6 ofthe'raised portion 5' and is thenswung downwardly around the center of the notch 4: as an axis into. the lower shallow notch 7 It is to be observed that in attachingthe leaves to the binder the second page of each leaf is uppermost and that the stack of leaves lies over and against the inside of the front cover. After the leaves have thus been fastened into the cover, the stack of leaves 20 may be swung over the curved portion 9 of the rings or arches 2 bringing the stack of leaves to rest on the inside of the back cover 15; thatis to say, frolii the angular position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to the transverse position shown in Fig. 1.

When the leaves are so secured to the loose leaf binder and are resting upon the back cover 15, as shownin Fig. l the stack of leaves 20 insures the retention ofth'e ends of the rin s or rches *in the notch s 7", 7 1'-es ectively, for if any force were imparted; for

.instance, to the upper ring or arch 2 tending to turn it clockwise around the arni or prong 10 in the notch of the section 3 as an. axis, then that force transmitted throughthe stack (if leaves 20 to the arm or prongio off the lower netch 7 said section -over whichtherightin the recess 7 of section 5 we against the high edge er the; stance 2 cannot be 5 transmitted thereto through the stack of leaves 20.

1 One of the features of this invention is that any pressure imparted tending to'move one of the arms of the rings 1 holding leaves in the binder out of its notch 7 onto the cam surface 8 is resisted ty the higher Wall; of

the shallownot'oh 7 in Whic'h the ether ring is seated. The leaves therefore are operative to prevent the "rings or-arches2 from being loosened from their backing en age rn'ent with the notches 7 Thus are the leaves easilylnounte'd in the binder forming the subject-matter of this invention; the rings or. arches are easily slid over the settions-S to impart tension to;the resilient rings orarc'hes suflicient to cause them to remain firmly seated in the shallow recesses 7, 7, and Whenthe leaves aresecured thereon and the binder is'lying' on-the-bach cover 15 in the position in which it is normally placed in using the book, the stack of leaves trans- .niits any pressure tending to unseat one r ng orarch to the other ring and against the high side of the notch 7.

When the binder is used to hold checks in a check book shown in Fig. 1, the checl -s lie hat on the back cover 15-and to make the cheek book o'c'cupyless space when open on a desk or tebie; the front cover 17 may he -swung about the flexible hinge portions 19 or 18 toa position flat'againstthe outside of the. back cover 15". Then so folded f the space required for the placing of the book flat on the desk or other sup'portis only that-of the area of the back cover 15 plus that of the stubs 23 onthe left-hand side of the rings or arches 2.

Having thus describedniy invention, what I claim and desireto protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a deviceof the' character described, thecom'bination with a cover comprising a back cover, a front ico've'r and a back freely hingedly secured to saidfront and back covers of a nietal striphaving parallel longitu 'dinal' edges rigidly securedtos aid back cover parallel and adjacent-to sfaidback andi pro vided with ;a substantially semi-circular notch in one edge andsaine mar "recess in the opposite edge said irregular recess having' a substantially semi-circular portion directly'oppo'site saidnotch, a dap er-cite on one side of said semi-circular portion and a earn edge st-ending from the baa-6m (if said deep port-ion to a pointa little above the the notch 4- the-elev'ated section as a center llil (iii

of said recess on the opposite edge being sufficient to permit the seating of the necks of the prongs therein without substantially springing the prongs apart and the distance between said notch and the semi-circular portion of said recess being substantially greater and suflicient to place the prongs under substantial tension, when the arch is rotated about the prong in the notch as an axis, and the neck of the prong and the recess is forced over said cam portion into said substantially semi-circularportion of said recess.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a cover comprising a back cover, a front cover and a back freely hingedly secured to said front and back covers, of a metal strip having parallel longitudinal edges rigidly secured to said back cover parallel and adjacent to said back and provided with a substantially semi-circular notch in one edge and an irregular recess in the opposite edge, said irregular recess having a substantially semi-circular portion directly opposite said notch, a deep portion on one side of said semi-circular portion and a cam edge extending from the bottom of said deep portion to a point a little above the bottom of said semi-circular portion, and a stiff, resilient arch circular in transverse cross-section, and the prongs of which are each provided with a circumferential groove forming a short neck near the end of each prong, the distance between the semi-circular notch on one edge and said deep portion of said recess on the opposite edge being sufficient to permit the seating of the necks of the prongs therein without substantially springing the prongs apart and the distance between said notch and the semi-circular portion of said recess being substantially greater and sufiicient to place the prongs under sub stantial tension, when the arch is rotated about the prong in the notch as an axis, and the neck of the prong and the recess is forced over said cam portion into said substantially semi-circular portion of said recess, the portion of said strip surrounding said notch and recess being embossed upwardly to permit of the insertion of the end of said prong there under.

3. In a device of the character described, a 1

cover, aparallel sided metal strip rigidly secured to the cover, a pairof stiff but resilient U-shaped arches circularin transverse cr sssection, each prong of which is provided with a groove near the free end thereof to form a neck and a thin disk-like integral head on the end of each prong, said strip being provided with two spaced substantially semi-circular notches in one edge of a diameter substantially that of the prongs at said grooves and with two irregular recesses in the opposite edge, each recess comprising a substantially semicircular portion directly opposite a notch in the opposite edge, a deep portion and an inclined cam portion extending from the bottom of said deep portion to a point in said substantially semi-circular portion well above the bottom thereof, said recesses being complement-a1 with respect to each other and symmetrical with respect to a line normal to the length of said strip and midway between said recesses, the distance between a notch on one edge and the deep portion of the cooperatin recess on the other edge being sufficient to permit the insertion of the prongs of an arch therein with said strip in said grooves, the distance between said notch and the semi-circular portion of said recess being greater, so that when one neck of an arch is in said notch and the other neck of said arch is in said recess and the said last-mentioned neck is slid up over said cam portion into said semi-circular portion, the prongs will be under tension holding said arches firmly seated in said notch and recess.

4:. In a device of the character described, a cover, a parallel sided metal strip rigidly sccured to the cover, a pair of stiff but resilient U-shaped arches circular in transverse crosssection, each prong of which is provided with a groove near the free end thereof to form a neck and a thin disk-like integral head on the end of each prong, said strip being provided with two spaced substantially semi-circular notches in one edge of a diameter substantially that of the prongs at said grooves and with two irregular recesses in the opposite edge, each recess comprising a substantially semi-circular portion directly opposite a notch in the opposite edge, a deep'portion and an inclined cam portion extending from the bottom of said deep portion to a point in said substantially semi-circular portion well above the bottom thereof, said recesses being complemental with respect to each other and symmetrical with respect to a line normal to the length of said strip and midway between said recesses, the distance be tween a notch on one edge and the deep portion of the cooperating recess on the other edge being sufficient to permit the insertion of the prongs of an arch therein with said strip in said grooves, the distance between said notch and the semi-circular portion of said recess being greater, so that when one neck of an arch is in said notch and the other neck ofsaid arch is in said recess and the said last-mentioned neck is slid up over said cam portion into said semi-circular portion, the prongs will be under tension holding said arches firmly seated in said notch and recess, the portion of said strip surrounding said notches and recesses being embossed upwardly for the lateral insertion of a head of an arch thereunder In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of January, 1930.

RALPH \VATSON. 

